The good the sweet and the muppety...

The Muppets

As a child I was not a fan of the muppet show. It very well could have been above my head but as I grew up I began to watch movies (which has become a vice worthy of the worst addict) and fell in love with Kermit and the gang through The Muppet movie, The Great Muppet Caper (a personal favorite) and The Muppets take Manhattan. The blend of music, humor and great lessons like love can conquer anything. Sitting on my couch instead of a log, I sang along with Kermit singing The Rainbow Connection. It was the beginning of my somewhat love of movies such as The Dark Crystal, The Neverending Story, and many others which blended humans with muppets and allowed a child to believe these felt creations lived among us.
So when I saw that Jason Segel was resurrecting the muppets and bringing them back to the big screen, I was excited. I knew Seagal’s love of the muppets would not allow for a ruination of my childhood friends and would fall nicely into the collection of muppet movies. They have succeeded in creating a movie that draws us once again to their world and bring the legacy of Jim Henson back to the big screen. While their movie may be overly sweet and saccharine in a world so jaded and cynical, I’d say that Kermit and the gang can be brought to a new group of children who can marvel at the head swaying beauty of The Rainbow Connection or the damn mind sticking Manamana.
The movie follows lifelong muppet fan and oddly out of place Walter who idolized The Muppets along with his older brother Gary (Segel). Gary is dating the sweet shop teacher Mary (Amy Adams at her Enchanted best) and for their 10th anniversary they are leaving Smalltown USA and going to Los Angeles. Gary, ever aloof of his girlfriend’s needs invites Walter along so they can see the now decrepit Muppet Studios. There is a story involving an big oil villain played by Chris Cooper but the real story is that the muppets, who are long forgotten and not famous anymore, need to reunite for one last show to save their old theater.
Does this movie have a lot to say about our changing world. Will Kermit threaten George Clooney’s or Brad Pitt’s Oscar chances? Probably not but the sweet and happy movie transports you back to the time when you could believe in a happily ever after. And sometimes, you need that. I loved the many cameos from mainstream stars as they did in the original Muppet movies. Dave Grohl, Neil Patrick Harris, John Krasinski, Jim Parsons, Rico Rodriguez and Selena Gomez and more all offer up their services to The Muppets.
I want to say that this movie is a must see and certainly if you have kids, I’d take them to the show but for a guy like me, who doesn’t have even anyone to share a trip back into memory lane with, I can’t say I needed to see this. I can say that I wanted to see it though. And I am not mad that I did.
In the end...


Mr. Unhappy Sez: Someday I’ll find it, the muppet connection, a lover, a dreamer and me.... Whoa is that a three way?